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Indian boarding party received a fairly big surprise when they entered the Captain's cabin. Inside they found a Pakistani army officer with a gun pointed at a terrified and bound Chinese submarine captain. Another Chinese officer in PLA General's uniform lay dead on the floor with 3 bullet wounds while a Paki army officer, who was at once identified as General Asgar himself was spread unconscious on a table. He too had been shot once through chest. The Paki officer was unarmed and everybody taken in to custody. Once at the ship, interrogation started immediately. The captured Paki officer identified himself as Lt. Zia, a trusted aide of General Asgar. The story he told his interrogators was nothing like anybody expected.

According to him, General Asgar had ordered the launch of first nuclear missile as soon as the Chinese had informed him of the arsenal's arrival. By this, he had expected to shift the blame to General Beg and force him to step down under the threat of similar nuclear strikes on Pakistan as well as India. What he hadn't counted upon was the duplicity of Chinese. Within minutes of the first launch, Pakis had intercepted a communication between General Mao Hu and a senior CPC member in China. CPC member was quoted as ordering General Hu to fight to the last Paki. When General Asgar confronted General Hu with the intercept, the Chinese at once kidnapped Asgar and moved him and his aide to the submarine berthed at Omara. Loyalties of numerous Paki army officers had been bought earlier without anybody being wiser and Chinese faced no opposition while they took a Pakistani general hostage inside his own country. They had then ordered the launch of remaining missiles and planned to escape under the confusion. But the swift retaliatory strikes by India had put a spanner to their plans. Additionally their submarine took some damage by the nuclear attack at Omara. With most of their plan screwed up, Chinese had no further use left for Asgar and meant to execute him as soon as possible. But Mao and Asgar somehow overpowered their captors and had managed to shut themselves inside the cabin in same condition as the Indians had found them. To strengthen his claim, Rashid provided Indians with a memory card containing the captured communication between General Hu and his senior in CPC.

The Indian Akula was lurking in the relatively shallow waters of Indian Ocean on an routine patrol when the hostilities commenced all of a sudden. Till then, it's work had mainly consisted of avoiding merchant ships and gathering intelligence on the odd military vessel that came within it's range. But the sudden escalation had turned a routine intelligence gathering patrol in to a combat patrol. Right now the newest submarine of the Indian naval fleet was drifting along at speed of 7 knots just outside territorial waters of Malaysia It's crew was on highest alert and complete silence had been enforced on deck. That meant everything that could cause any kind of noise that included music players, loud conversations were banned. Sonar crew was bent over their respective consoles intently analyzing every contact that showed up on their passive sonar. Previously most of their contacts had been noisy merchant vessels and fishing trawlers of all shapes and sizes. Some of the crewmen claimed that they could hear them from miles away even without any gadget. Presence of so many vessels provided them some cover to hide their own noise. But it also worked for the enemy in similar way. Correctly detecting and identifying targets of interest in such conditions was a herculean task even with the ultra-modern electronic gear on board. But the news of nuclear conflict in the sub-continent had changed the conditions drastically. Most of the shipping companies plying in this area had stopped all their activities in this area pending further improvements in the security situation. A few small fishing trawlers were still active, but most of the cover offered by big vessels was gone. As with normal conditions, the advantage or disadvantage of the situation affected both sides equally.

Although the sea floor had been mapped extensively by commercial as well as military organizations, no submarine crew took the task of navigating those waters lightly. The sea is shallow and sea bed highly uneven. As if that was not enough, the sea bed is littered with wrecks of countless ships making job of navigators hairy at best of the times. In a nutshell, such were the conditions under which the Indian submarine was guarding India against another sneak attack by Chinese

Captain of Akula was monitoring all the reports being fed in to his console without pause for hours. He leaned away from his console and stretched a little in order to drive away the cramps that were beginning to set in. Addressing his sonar man he remarked, “The sea is pretty quite now, isn't it ?

“Still, don't let your guard down. I'm sure that we are about to see some action very soon.”

As if on cue, one of the sonar crew members announced, “Sir, we have 3 faint contacts. One at bearing two-three-zero and other two at two-five-five. Approximate distance 39000 m and 38000 m respectively”

All signs of relaxation disappeared from the crew to be replaced by a renewed sense of urgency. Captain took a look at his console where the output from the submarines passive sonar was being fed. According to the map, the contacts were moving in from behind a small inhabited island .

“What's their speed ?”

Calculating exact speed and bearing of targets at such distances has always been quite difficult. Sonar man paused for a while before answering, “Approximately 17 knots each sir.”

Even the most modern ships are practically deaf when traveling at speeds excess of 15 knots. At such speed, sound of water rushing by overpowers every other sound that might be captured by sonar under lower speeds. Therefore while traveling, submarines dash at high speed and drift at lower speed alternately. By lowering their speed they can take stock of their surroundings for any threats, then rush at high speed before slowing down again. Thereby repeating the process again and again, they can travel with a reasonable amount of situational awareness.. Captain stood up , “Good. This means that they most likely haven't detected us yet. Turn to bearing two-four-zero and make speed 4 knots.”

The silent submarine slowed down to near drifting speeds as it turned to face the incoming vessels. Inside, it's highly trained crew strained to capture any clue that could help them identify the possible new threats. Every class of sea vessel has it's distinctive sound when it's traveling. Even different vessels belonging to the exact same class and category can be identified by their acoustic signatures that are almost always unique. Navies spend enormous amount of effort and money to gather such data about their opponents. Naval vessels often stalk enemy ships and submarines for days to correctly gather such data which is then analyzed and spread in to rest of the fleet to make identification of enemy vessels easier. Once a ship has such previously collected data in it's computers, all it has to do is to compare the acoustic signature of a suspected target against the database it carries for an accurate identification.

After a few minutes sonarman announced, “Sir, we have a positive identification on all three targets. The one on two-three-zero is Chinese SSN Type-093, serial G13. On two-five-five , we have one Type-093, serial G-18 and a Type-094 serial L21 approximately 800m behind it. Designating the targets as Bandit 1, Bandit 2 and Bandit 3.”

A worried expression clouded faces of everybody present in the bridge. Type-093 were the latest Chinese nuclear attack submarines designed and manufactured with significant help from Russia. Although Akula was more than a match in one-on-one combat, presence of two made the conditions slightly more difficult. But thing that really gave everybody the goose bumps was presence of Type-094 SSBN. The submarine which first entered service in middle to late 2000s was capable of carrying 16 JL1 SLBMs with an approximate range of 2500 KM. It would've been a grave threat if that submarine could come within launch range of any major Indian city or even Naval base at Andaman.

As of now, the lone Indian Akula was the only Indian asset that could intercept the speeding Chinese. All other ships including sole operational aircraft carrier Virat were too far away to help. If the Chinese were to launch any SLBM, only the Akula could stop them for now.

Captain ordered his helmsman to come near the surface and send out warnings to rest of the fleet. Once the message containing bearing and number of enemy submarines was sent captain ordered the speed to be reduced to zero and lay still gathering all the intelligence they could before making any move. Validity of his decision was soon proved when his sonarman announced presence of another Chinese Type 093 submarine at bearing two-one-zero. It was traveling at lower speed and thus comparatively quieter . It was detected as it increased speed, most likely to keep up with rest of the fleet. As soon as he had finished announcing the presence of fourth submarine, sonar man announced again, “Sir, all of the enemy submarines have increased their speeds to 24 knots.”

The way they were traveling, the Type-094 would've been close enough to launch it's missiles at A&N islands in little over 1 hour and on to Indian mainland in another 4. Time was of the essence and the sudden increase in speed as they traveled towards Indian coast suggested that they meant to do exactly that. Indians would lack any other choice except to intercept and destroy the Chinese submarines, except for the fact that there were not enough Indian assets in the area. While he was still contemplating his tactics his communications officer handed him over a paper containing the latest directives received from HQ. It was brief and self-explanatory as most military communication is supposed to be. He was ordered to intercept and destroy enemy submarines before they could launch their missiles. No help was coming for at least 4 hours. He stared at the paper slip was a few seconds. Even if any ship or plane could come to help, Chinese submarines would've launched their missiles and exited from the area.

His second in command, a Lieutenant Commander stood by expectantly waiting for orders. Captain put the paper slip away and took a deep breath before addressing the crew, “All right men. We have our orders to intercept and destroy the incoming Chinese submarines before they can launch any of their missiles. Some of our ships and planes are coming to help but it'll take some time. If the Chinese decide to launch before help arrives, we are all that stand between another nuclear attack on our nation. I want all of you to be completely alert and on your toes. That's all for now. Man all battle stations.”

As ordered previously, Indian Akula was lying completely still in water as the Chinese submarines came closer and closer still completely oblivious to the enemy's presence. Indian crew watched nervously on the display screen as the four blips denoting the four Chinese submarines passed by their position one by one within minutes of each other. 2nd in command commented,” They are not slowing down at all.”

Captain answered, “ It's their slowing down that should worry us. They can't fire while traveling so fast. ” He waited for a few minutes for Chinese to pass and then turning to his helms man he ordered, “Helm, make speed 12 knots. Match bearings with Bandit 3.”The Indian submarine slowly engaged gears and started started following it's still oblivious quarry. He didn't want to increase speed by too much for two reasons. First, he wanted to be 100% sure of the enemy's position. Gaining too much speed would've put a penalty on his situational awareness. Second, he wanted to be as sure as possible of not giving away his location to any other enemy submarine that might be following the ones in front of him. But very soon, the Bandits reached near the range limit at which they could be accurately tracked and targeted by Akula forcing it to increase it's own speed. But unlike the racing Chinese who were dashing like there was no tomorrow, Indians took pauses between their speed bursts to slow down and listen before rushing again. It was in between such pauses that they detected the Bandit 3 and 4 slowing down while 1 and 2 still raced ahead. With mounting anxiety Indians noted that the Bandit 3 was very near the range of launching it's missile on some of the major coastal Indian cities. Keeping their own speed at a comparative lower figure of 8 knots,, Indian crewed listened intently to any sign of missile launch preparation by Chinese. Bandit 3 was still traveling too fast too launch it's own missiles, so they waited matching their own speed to that of Bandit 3. One immediate loss of this approach made itself visible soon enough. Bandit 1 and 2 soon went out of range of their tracking sonar and torpedoes. But it also evened out the odds somewhat, leaving Akula with only two enemies to take care of instead of four.

Lt. Cmd wondered aloud, “Why the hell those escorts raced away from the SSBN ? Shouldn't they be guarding it ?”

“They probably want to sanitize the area first or plain old diversionary tactics only. One of our anti-sub planes is patrolling that area I hope our guys get a fix on them soon enough.“ navigating officer guessed.

The chase went on for a few minutes more after which both Bandit 3 started to slow down and lowered it's speed to 5 knots. At the same time it gradually started decreasing it's depth even more slowly. Bandit 4 too slowed down after gaining getting nearly a KM on Bandit 4 and deployed it's towed array sonar. This forced Akula to reduce it's speed further to avoid any chance of getting detected on the much sensitive towed sonar array.

“Hurry up ! I don't have enough time for you to waste just lolling around.” An impatient and very nervous Chinese PLA Lieutenant barked at the head of three man electric repairmen team. The three men had been working feverishly trying to repair the broken generator for two hours. The massive 100 KVA generator was one of the two that formed a pair providing backup power source for the highly sensitive army base. The main power supply of the base was disrupted after a freak landslide had knocked out two towers a few kilometers away. The first emergency generator had immediately kicked in but had suffered a break down soon after. Resident electricians had expressed their inability to fix the generator forcing the authorities to call in a repair crew from outside.

The base itself was highly sensitive and was believed to be a storage site for nuclear tipped DF-21 ballistic and H11 long range cruise missiles. It was constructed largely underground inside a mountain and considered nearly impregnable against most aerial attacks. The missile silos themselves were spread about over a large area and hidden by clever camouflage.

All three men were ethnic Tibetans and not trusted much by almost exclusively Han military personnel. All of their belongings had been thoroughly checked before they entered the base and had been under constant guard of 2 armed soldiers led by an ill tempered lieutenant since then. The three men worked silently under the sullen gaze of three soldiers without much visible progress. A jumble of wires, nuts, grease and tools littered the place. After a few minutes, leader of the crew stood up and faced the lieutenant.

“The coil is damaged. It needs replacement if you want this generator to work.” he said in very good Mandarin which seemed to surprise the Lt. Glancing at his soldiers with raised eyebrows he snapped, “Then replace it. Why the hell did we call you anyway ?”

“The thing weighs 130 Kgs and costs 4000 Yuans. I don't have it here.” Seeing the scowl on the face of already red faced Lt. He added quickly, “I do have one at my workshop that'll work.”

“And ?” came the terse query.

“I'll need to call somebody in my workshop to bring it over here. I'll have this generator operational within a hour once it gets here.” the middle aged electrician seemed to be getting smaller every moment under the angry stare of the army officer.

“Then do it already you moron ! What are you waiting for ?” Lt. Exploded, showering the already cowering electrician with spittle.

“Yes sir. I'll do it at once.” poor electrician stammered and proceeded to make the call from his cell phone but was interrupted by the army man ,” What the hell you think you're doing ? This base is 30 meters underground. Your cellphones don't work here. Go with that soldier and call from our line.”

“Yes sir.” the shaking electrician mumbled and followed one of the soldiers out of the generator room to the phone. The soldier escorted him to one of the phones and waited while the call was made. Once finished he again escorted the electrician back to the general room to the waiting wrathful officer. “Well ?” came the inquiry.

“The coil will be here within 20 minutes sir, Is it possible to get my assistant driving the pickup truck to get here any faster ? It took us 30 minutes just at the gates.” Electrician asked timidly

“ I'll see what I can do with the sentries. You idiots just concentrate on fixing the damned generator. The Brigadier will have you skinned alive otherwise.” Motioning his soldiers to keep an eye, he strode out of the room leaving the repair crew slightly relaxed for a change. One of the men cautiously took out a pack of cigarettes and first offered it to the soldiers. One shook his head sternly while the other gratefully accepted.

Taking in a deep drag, the lead electrician remarked to the 2nd soldier, “Quite a stern fellow your officer is, eh ?”

Trying to be as stern as his officer, the other soldier spoke before his companion could answer “Yes and very ambitious too. You speak very good Mandarin. How's that ?”

“My father was a trader from Henan. He came to Tibet in 1966 and married my mother same year. Learnt to speak Mandarin from him. Studied in school too.” The lead electrician replied proudly.

“And these two ?” The soldier asked, gesturing towards the other two electricians.

“Oh, this one Gyalwa is my cousin and this is his best friend Kalsang. They both know a little bit of Mandarin that was taught to them in school but not as good as me.” he flashed a grin which went unreciprocated.

Observing the cold response, the three electricians didn't try to make any more small talk and smoked quietly. Lead electrician stared at the floor and the series of events that had brought him to this place flashed before his eyes one by one. The story of a Chinese father was a lie. Both his parents had been ethnic Tibetans who had suffered greatly under the iron fist of Chinese communism. His father, a respected writer and painter in Tibetan society had been arrested and tortured after he expressed dissent against Chinese occupation and influx of Han settlers. His son was born just 4 months after he was arrested . He was released after spending 4 years in a jail without trial under the condition that he will stop every dissenting activity against the Chinese rule. Once out of jail, the reunited family had immediately collected it's belongings and began a long and arduous journey south towards freedom in India. His mother lost a foot to dreaded frost bite and was barely alive when exhausted family reached a small hill town named Dharmshala in India. The health complications related to the traumatic journey haunted her for rest of her life.

Wangdak, as he was formally named, spent first few years of his childhood helping his struggling family survive the new life in a strange country. Stories of suffering born by Tibetan people like his parents filled his heart with anger with each passing day. Then he heard about a special Indian military unit consisting of ethnic Tibetans raised by Indian government. As soon as he was of legal age, he applied and got selected. The hardy Tibetan boy passed out of military school as a highly trained special forces soldier expert in many languages and explosives. His first few years in Indian army were spent in routine protective duties and occasional intelligence gathering missions which although challenging, didn't engage him enough. Realizing his expertise and hunger soon enough, his seniors had offered him a job as an Indian spy in Tibet. He had jumped at the offer and had sneaked in to Lhasa under the guise of an electrician. His training as special forces soldier had come in handy and he had managed to set up a fairly robust network of spies all over his native nation of Tibet. He waited for years, biding his time to do his bit for freedom of his people when a series of events, helped in no less deal by his own planning had brought him inside the highly secure missile base.

Jamwal ji, could we have a fictitious Chinese surface naval attack through the Isthmus of Kra (Thailand) on CARNIC? It would be interesting to see how IN would act proactively to see off a 2 pronged threat from its forward deployment at Andaman islands!

As one of many future scenarios, we could assume that PLAN has developed Isthmus of Kra waterway in order to cancel out IN's ability to block the Malacca straits. In return, a 290 km rail link on the Greater Andaman island gives IN the logistical edge to deploy faster.

Since the scenario has gone nuclear, shouldnt we also be seeing the Su-30 MKI's in use by Strategic Nuclear Command?

IMHO, any naval attack by surface ships through Isthmus of Kra will lack any element of surprise and thus will not be very effective from Chinese POV. Also, Thais will certainly not like dragging in to a war which is not theirsIn current scenario, Indian Su 30s were already involved in nuclear attack on Pakistan. I didn't have enough knowledge or time to explain the attack in full.

Prem saar,Don't know about India doing that. Can you explain with little more detail ?

Another Chinese soldier arrived after a few minutes and addressed the electricians, “Your truck has arrived. It's in the parking floor. Come with me if you want to get your stuff inside.” Wangdak nodded at his two colleagues and followed the soldier out of generator room. They snuffed out their cigarettes and moved towards the door as if following their senior, but stopped at the door. Gyalwa glanced once outside watching Wangdak go and closed the door. One of the guards seemed surprised, “What ? You aren't going to help him ?”

Gyalwa glanced at him and merely shook his head. This prompted a grunt from the soldier,”You guys haven't said a word all this time. Are you both dumb ? And open that damned door. Who told you to shut it ?” Gyalwa merely stared back, not moving a muscle. This caused both the soldiers to lose their temper and both moved menacingly towards the unarmed electrician. “Do you want to die you fuc**** moron ? “

The angry rant was broken in middle as the furious soldier choked in his own blood that suddenly started gushing out of his throat. Kalsang had moved in silently and used a sharp screw driver to sever the jugular vein of the distracted soldier. Before the other soldier could react, Gyalwa pounced on him and broke his neck in one clean jerk. They then stripped the Chinese soldiers of their uniforms and exchanged them with their own clothes. They were still collecting weapons when there was a knock on the door and voice of Wangdak came in, “I'm here with coil.” Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and walked in along with another man pushing a cart carrying a big crate. The new man, glanced at the two Tibetans dressed in Chinese PLA uniforms and flashed a grin. “How's it going soldiers ? Everything going according to plan?”

Gyalwa nodded, “Yes and let's begin what we came here for right now.”

The new man smiled again, “Of course. Help me open this crate first.” The four man team at once started dismantling the crate .With practised hands of experts they started screwing out panels and wires of the components and started collecting small white packs out of their cargo. Within a few minutes , four man team man had collected nearly 100kgs of military grade high explosives out of the faux motor coil. Once this was done, a small timer based detonator was attached to each bundle of explosives. This whole process was over in less than 10 minutes. Once the work was done Wangdak distributed the explosives and said, “Remember what I told you earlier. Each bomb in it's planned position. We need to place them in exactly the right positions to take down this base. Now hurry up.”Each man then collected his share of primed explosives and started placing them in and around generator room. All four men then walked out in to the parking floor and climbed in to their truck. Klasang started the ignition and looked around at his 3 companions, “We ready to go ?”

Wangdak nodded and the truck slowly moved out of the parking floor in to the road that led to the base. They soon passed the sentry gate without getting challenged. As soon as they drove past the gate, the normally quiet surroundings were shattered by a loud rumble. Explosives planted by the Tibetans had exploded right on time and had ripped through command and control building constructed under the mountain. Explosions first caused the roof of generator room's floor to collapse, triggering a domino effect burying each floor under the one directly above it. Command and control center which happened to be the second one from last floor, was completely destroyed with near 100% causalities. Some of the warheads which were not mated to any missile were also buried. Although most of the missiles were not damaged, the capability to use those missiles was lost for a long time. Chinese couldn't possibly use those missiles for days if not weeks.

Gyalwa pumped his fists jubilantly and laughed loudly, “I wish we could destroy those missiles too. More fireworks.”Wangdak slapped his shoulder and replied, “Well, that's the best that could be done under circumstances, but don't worry. War has just begun. We are going to see plenty of action. This Chinese dragon will soon join the list of extinct species.”

I have been a regular visitor to BR over the last few years but registered only now to make this post. This is one of the best i have read in a long time. I have been glued to this story since i started reading it.. incredible buildup of the plot! Eagerly awaiting the rest of the story as it unfolds..

The 5 truck convoy flanked by 3 APCs thundered in to the village square throwing the normally tranquil village of Daxmung in to a tizzy. Although the village folks were no strangers to PLA and it's tactics of intimidation, rumours of violence in surrounding areas made them more nervous then usual. It was no surprise then, that all the people stopped whatever they were doing and shut themselves inside their homes. A gruff looking Chinese major poked his head out of hatch of one of the APCs and shouted on a loud speaker, “ All men of this village above 18 years are ordered to come out to the square and answer our questions. We just want some information. No one will be harmed if you cooperate with us.”

He repeated the order 3-4 times while driving through the lanes, getting angrier with each passing moment as no body even dared to peep out. Finally fed up with repeating himself he warned, “All the men are ordered to come outside to village square within 30 seconds, other wise I'll level down this whole damned village with artillery with each one of you idiots inside.”At his signal, soldiers dismounted from trucks and rest of the APCs and formed a cordon around the houses. With their rifle butts, they pounded doors and windows, shouting obscenities at the villagers hiding inside.

There were some hints of activity inside the houses as sounds of hushed whispers and stifled sobs started to come out of the besieged homes. A single old man clutching a stick for support opened door of one of the houses and nervously walked out. A younger man followed him out immediately and tried to drag him back, but the older man firmly pushed him away.Seeing the two men, Chinese Major snorted derisively, “That's it ! That's the total number of men in this fuc**** village ? Come out of your holes you stinking rats and answer my questions. Otherwise you all will die.”

The two Tibetan villagers had reached within a few feet of the APC and both stood there nervously shuffling on their feet. Slowly doors of some other houses opened and more men shuffled fearfully out of their housed and formed a huddle around the two men. PLA major scanned the motley group and took out a poster and threw it on the ground, motioning the villagers to pick it up. The poster contained sketches of four Tibetan men. The villagers picked up the poster and passed it around amongst themselves with each one staring at the sketched faces with a fearful confusion.

“ Have you ever seen any of the men in these poster. “?, he asked, nonchalantly while lighting a cigarette.

The villagers exchanged confused glances amongst themselves and most of them shook their heads.

“ Half of you are shaking heads while the rest are standing like statues ? Do you know these men or not ? Answer me .”

The young man who had first come out along with an older one stepped forward and said timidly, “We have never seen these men before. Neither of us know their identity.”

The major stared at the young man for a few seconds and then nodded, “ I see. Who are you ?”

“My name is Dechen” pointing to the old man standing a few steps besides him he said, “and I'm son of the village's Headman. We know every single person in this village and people who pass through. I am absolutely sure that neither of these men have never even set foot here.”

All of a sudden, the PLA major grew livid and spat out his cigarette. Grabbing Dechen by collar of his tunic he first shook him and then threw him aside. Using all of his lung power he shouted, “Don't lie to me you ********. I know for certain that these men were given food and shelter in this village. Just tell me who helped them and where did they go afterward and each one of us will go home happy. Lie to me and your whole miserable village will be burnt to ashes.” Grabbing another man by his neck he shouted again, “ Are you going to tell me the truth or not.”

The scared villager was shaking uncontrollably and could nothing apart from babbling for mercy. Showing a disgusted expression the major pushed him away and faced the huddled villagers. “I'm giving you one final chance to clear your names and save your village from charges of treason and waging war against glorious republic of China. You tell me who these men are and I'll leave you alone. You'll even be rewarded for your service to the Party. Lie and each single one of you, including your women and children will be shot and burnt while still alive. Make your choice.”

Terrified by the warning, the men hurled themselves at the feet of PLA major begging for mercy and claiming innocence. Grimacing, he kicked one of the men and shouted, “Just tell me where are these men ?”

Getting no answer except for claims of innocence he kicked some more men prostrating at his feet and spat in disgust. “Very well. I gave you filthy pigs a chance and you blew it. Now suffer for your insolence.”

Grabbing an AK-56 rifle from a soldier standing near by, he switched it on to full auto and emptied the magazine in to the crowd of villagers in front of him. A number of men who were sitting or standing on the ground collapsed after getting shot. Hearing deadly chatter of the gun, some of the women from surrounding houses who had been watching the carnage from inside rushed out of their houses wailing and crying for mercy. PLA major calmly changed the empty magazine with a full one and took aim at the group of women. Some of the women froze in their steps while others rushed on regardless of the pointed barrel. Glancing at his soldiers with slight amusement in his eyes, he shot the running women then fired rest of the bullets on remaining men.

Handing back the still smoking gun, he lit another cigarette and watched the carnage he had just caused with cold eyes. Dozens of bodies lay bloodied and twitching in the small village square. People who escaped being shot, lay down wailing with fear and sorrow. Spitting out his half smoked cigarette, he crushed it under his boots and signaled his soldiers to get back in their vehicles. Climbing in to his APC, he surveyed the broken village once more and closed the hatch before the convoy started moving away.

Last few days had been really hard on the CIA chief. His eyes, now encircled by dark circles showed that the man had not been able to catch up on sleep for quite some time. He was dragging his feet through the corridors with slumped shoulders and lost expression. The situation for rest of CIA personnel in the office was made worse by his increasingly irritable temper. His subordinates wanted him to doze off for a few hours and get some much needed sleep, both for his sake as well as their own. But nobody was willing to make the suggestion to his face, not at this time when yellow matter had not only hit the fan but also got splashed the people passing by the windows.

Those normally predictable Indians had proved to be really unpredictable when they needed to behave the most. Not only they had nuked the hell out of one of the most vital US “allies” in South Asia, but had also picked up a fight with US's biggest trading partner. The stock markets had tanked all over the world while the fuel prices had sky rocketed to $ 220 a barrel within two days. Governments in numerous countries had been forced to shut down trading in stock markets after stock worth hundreds of billions had evaporated in a matter of hours. Already, self-styled analysts and experts were shouting themselves hoarse claiming all kinds of consequences, ranging from alien intervention to a nuclear world war. Some of the more colourful “experts” were playing on the much hyped date of 21/12/2012 predicting end of the world. The result was a wave of mass panic and hysteria spreading all over the world which the governments had been unable to subdue. Riots had broken out in many cities causing even more panic and destruction. Cosby was sitting on his chair staring at the documents containing all the details while a small army of agents and analysts ran around bringing even bigger piles of papers to him and other senior officials in the room. He felt drowsy staring at the sheets and felt himself drifting towards sleep. Even the strongest coffee was proving useless in keeping him awake and he inched closer and closer towards blessed oblivion, even if it was for a few minutes. His trance was very rudely broken by the 3 star Admiral who had been shouting on phone earlier. “Hey Cosby! Cosby, wake up buddy. We are officially in deep shit now.” Admiral Adams bellowed while trying to shake the dozing spook awake.

In spite of his best efforts to sound alert and in control, Cosby could only manage a sniffled yawn, “Uh ..what ?”

Admiral jumped up and down excitedly “Have you been sleeping all this while now ? Those damned Chinese have downed a Taiwanese F-16 over Taiwan Strait !”

All the traces of sleep immediately vanished from Cosby's eyes. “What the hell are you talking about Admiral ? Why'd Chinese do such a thing ? “

Admas just exploded, “You are the intelligence guy here Cosby. You figure it out. We had no information when Pakistanis launched that nuke on India. None when they tried to launch another one and absolutely no clue when Indians took the decision of nuking the cursed place off the world map. Do we run the biggest and most advanced intelligence setup in the world or what ? Now one of my guys in Taiwan phones and tells me that Chinese have picked up a fight with Taiwanese, and you ask me such questions ! ”

Cosby rubbed his head tiredly and groaned pitifully, “Fuc* ! “

Admiral Adams looked at the exhausted man sympathetically, but there was too much sh1t going on for him to be nice, “ First Indians destroyed Pakistan, now Chinese are about to do the same thing with Taiwan. At this rate, we'll have no allies left in that part of the world.”

This time, a 2 star Army General, General Matthews spoke up, “He is right Cosby. We got to do something. Losing the service of those terrorist Pakis is one thing, but loss of Taiwan will really screw things up for us in that part of the world. We have to have Taiwan intact and on our side.

Adams nodded vigorously and added, “If Taiwan is lost, we can say goodbye to all the oil in Spartly Islands. Not to mention what it's going to cost us when people all over the world see us humiliated by loss of our allies while we keep twiddling our thumbs.”

Cosby stared at the pile of papers in front of him while speaking, “True. First Taiwan, then South Korea, then Japan. these greedy Chinese will never stop. “

Adams lit a cigar and puffed on it, “For Chinese, it was Tibet first. We did nothing then either.”

Cosby retorted “Neither did Indians, who had most to lose. After Tibetans of course.”

Matthews who had been pacing the room impatiently interrupted, “Gentlemen, this is no time to discuss history. The point is, the fight between India and China needs to be broken off before it gets too serious. Much before Chinese use it as an excuse to solve their Taiwanese problem once and for all. That means right now. Every single second counts.”

Adams nodded, “You are right General. But how do we do it ? I have only two Carrier Battle Group (CBG) in near area. One is on the eastern coast of Japan which was supposed to conduct the joint exercises with Japanese. The second is in Guam for resupply and repairs. We can't intimidate either China or India with what we have.“

Cosby who had been silent all this while gave no indication that he heard anything that the two men had been discussing. He picked up a sheaf of papers and waved it , “These intelligence reports say that a full scale rebellion has broken out in Tibet and Xinjiang.”

Matthews waved away the information dismissively, “That's not important right now. Chinese always had that problem “

Adams disagreed at once, “ We need to utilize whatever we can General. Have you gone through the reports yet ? Tibetans claim that they've blown up a nuclear missile base.”

Cosby interrupted, “It's just not their claim Admiral. We know for sure that they are telling the truth. But the reprisals by Chinese have been very brutal. PLA has wiped out dozens of villages for revenge, Surviving Tibetan rebels are fighting with all they have, but they wouldn't last much long unless they get more help.

Meanwhile in Xinjiang, Uighur muslims have declared a war on Chinese Han settlers. Approximately 8 hours ago, a mob of Uighurs laid siege to a Han settlement, burnt down dozens of houses and took nearly 200 Hans hostage. Not even one survived when the rescue operation launched by Chinese blew up. Whole province is on fire as Uighurs are fighting pitched battles with Chinese military as well as civilians.Why not use this to our advantage ? “

The request for a telephonic meeting from the Chinese had come in just a few minutes earlier. If he was surprised by the event, defence minister Angad showed no indication of it. Now he waited surrounded by few of his advisers and military officers as the call was connected and voice of Chinese President Lin poured out of the phone's speaker. President Lin unlike most of his predecessors, spoke good English making the job of a translator completely unnecessary. After some very brief and tense greetings, the two men came directly to the point. First salvo was fired by Chinese, “Mr. DM, I've personally followed your career graph very closely and I know it for a fact that you are a pragmatic nationalist. You do realise the enormous cost that our countries will have to pay if the current situation deteriorates in to a full scale war. Then why have you attacked our assets without any provocation ?”

DM replied, “ Mr Lin, don't you think that a sneak unprovoked nuclear attack on my country that killed 50000 people in a matter of minutes is a grave enough provocation ? Nations have gone to war on much less. “

Lin protested incredulously, “But the attack was carried out by Pakistan ! You've already had your revenge. There is no excuse for you to pick up a fight with us.“

DM was silent for a while. “Yes you slimy lizard. Keep on shouting that you had nothing to do with it. Let's see how you explain what we are releasing to the world.” Outwardly he replied, “Well, for starters, how about we having concrete proof that it was your people who manufactured, transported and launched 2 nuclear tipped missiles at us.”

Lin cleared his throat uneasily, “I'll be honest with you. It's not exactly a secret where most of Pakistan's weapons come from. But what they do with them is entirely their prerogative. We can't be held responsible for what they do with it. We have absolutely no control over anything outside our territory.“

DM smirked as he sniffed his quarry walking in to a trap of his own making, “ I'm sorry to contradict you Mr. President, but Pakistanis don't seem to agree. Ah, why are we wasting time on verbal sparring when I have the proof straight from the horse's mouth. Would you please wait for a few seconds.” He put the phone on silent mode and signaled his aides to play the captured conversation between General Hu and the senior CPC member. Once the player was ready, he spoke again, “Sorry for keeping you waiting, but before talking further, I'd like you to listen to this recorded conversation.”

For next few minutes, Chinese President listened to the recording with absolute silence which extended for a few uncomfortable moments after it was over. DM took the cue and broke the silence himself. “I don't expect you to personally recognise the voice of General Hu, your senior most intelligence officer in Pakistan. But I'll be more than just surprised if you don't recognise the other voice. You hear him almost every working day of yours. Hundreds of millions of your Chinese citizens see his face on TV almost daily.”

When Chinese pres spoke again, the usual slight hint of arrogance was missing in his voice, “That could be a frame up by Pakis.”

Indian DM snorted bitterly, “A frame up by Pakistanis to get themselves annihilated ? This conversation leaves absolutely no doubt that your CPC and PLA planned and execute whole of this infernal operation. “

Chinese pres cut him angrily, “Xedong isn't the whole of CPC, Mr. DM. He is just a single member.”

DM retorted, “But that single man is the senior most member of CPC, ranking just marginally behind your nephew, who just happens to be your most likely successor for the post of Chinese president two years from now. Don't you honestly think that it's too much of a coincidence ?“

The reply was just the same, “I still believe that it's a conspiracy against us by a single isolated element. “

“ No Sir. The conspirators were Chinese and it's us who had to pay the price. I absolutely refuse to believe that anything of this scale can be planned and executed without implicit knowledge and approval of numerous senior CPC and PLA officials . We have more than just circumstantial evidence to back up our claims. We have testimony of the Chinese personnel captured from your submarine as well as Gilgit from Pak Occupied Kashmir. ” DM paused for a moment anticipating a reply from the Chinese but when none came, he continued, “You can't refute their testimony as well as the pictures of two nuclear tipped ICBMs that we captured from Gilgit.”

Indian DM's monologue was interrupted by excited voice of Chinese pres, “You captured what from Gilgit ?”

It was the turn of DM Angad to be surprised. “Is the smartass playing with me or what ?” Glancing at his aide, who looked more bemused than surprised he shrugged imperceptibly and said cautiously, “Two Chinese DF-21 ballistic missiles each armed with 100 KT Pluonium based warhead. Along with 11 technicians and 91 soldiers belonging to PLA's 811 Missile Brigade.”

DM replied in same tone, “All of J&K, including Gilgit and Aksai Chin is Indian territory. If you ever had any doubts or counter claims, clear them now. All of Pakistan occupied Kashmir is now under our control. You Chinese had no business bringing your men and missiles in Gilgit, even if it was under Pakistani control.”

Angad could hear Lin gnashing his teeth on the phone line in self-righteous anger, “But it was under Pakistani control Chinese couldn't have been there with their approval.”

Angad was beginning to enjoy the conversation, “Well, that still doesn't shed any light on why'd you send two nuclear missiles to Pakistan in violation of all international treaties and rules. Were they stolen by Pakis or what ? God forbid if these missile fall in hands of Uighurs or Tibetan nationalists. With so much chaos, anything is possible. Don't you agree ?”

Chinese pres was incredulous, “ Is it nuclear blackmail ?”

All traces of diplomatic civility vanished from the conversation, Angad replied with a hard edge in his voice, “ Think of it what you want Mr. President. We've already suffered a unprovoked nuclear attack. Pakistan was just your pawn. None of us will rest until we have our revenge.”

Chinese Pres almost shrieked, “But this is madness.”

“Nuclear deterrence is called MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) for this very reason. We'll take hits, but you'll not escape unscathed either.”

Lin changed his tone all of a sudden, “ Listen Mr Angad. I'm the President of China and all of this was done without my knowledge or approval. An unwanted war is not in any body's interest, except the conspirators who planned all this.”

Angad replied coldly, “You do realise that it's no time to play games Mr. President or act innocent. ”

Chinese pres protested weakly, “I'm not playing games. All this was done without my knowledge. I never planned or approved any such operation. “

People present in the Indian side exchanged confused glances. If Chinese president was indeed telling the truth, it was much stranger than the reality. DM Angad looked at the confused faces and answered, “I don't have anything except your word for it and I hope that you will understand my predicament. I can't just act based on your personal promises when lives of billions are at stake.”

Chinese Pres took a deep breath and replied, “I completely understand and I also want these tensions to end. None of us want a completely unnecessary war at this time. Economy of both of our nations will be set back by decades if this thing gets out of hand.”

Indian DM replied , “ There's more on stake than just economy.”

“True.” Lin conceded.”I'll do everything in my power to stop this madness. You've done whole world a great favour by showing me the real face of some of my compatriots. I'd like to return the favour by declaring a unilateral cease fire and cessation of all hostilities.”

DM was blunt in his reply, “I'd like to trust you on this Mr. President, but owing to events that transpired earlier, any such offer will be meaningless until we see some real result on ground as well as your government and military.”

Under different conditions, Chinese would have considered such response to be a major insult, but things were indeed different. “I understand it quite well. Still, I reiterate my statement. I hope a more lasting peace agreement will be reached between us as soon as I am finished with what I intend doing to Xedong and his associates. Goodbye.”

With this, the conversation between leaders of two warring nation came to an end. DM cut the call and looked at the small group present in the room. “Well. What should I make of it ?”

In a stunning development a few minutes ago, Indian authorities blamed China for the nuclear attack on their soil that triggered a nuclear war with Pakistan. In a hurriedly convened press conference, a senior defence ministry official presented evidence to this effect that included pictures and videos of a captured Chinese nuclear submarine and it's crew off Pakistan's sea coast. Apart from the Chinese crew, Indians captured General Asgar and one of his aides who were apparently trying to escape from Pakistan in the same submarine. A recorded conversation between General Mao Hu, a PLA intelligence officer posted in Chinese controlled part of J&K and Admiral (Retd.) Xedong of CPC was also recovered, According to portions of conversation played in the press conference, Admiral Xedong ordered General Hu to launch the nuclear missiles. Apparently, the nuclear tipped missiles were smuggled in to Pakistan at General Asgar's behest as a bargaining chip against his bitter rival General Beg. But General Hu used them to launch a clandestine nuclear attack on India. Chinese officials on the other hand refused to issue any statement on this matter. Their silence on this matter is quite suspicious considering the fact that Admiral Xedong is one of the more likely candidates for the coveted Chinese PM's post once the current PM steps down.If these allegations by India are proven to be true, then China will find itself in a very isolated position. Most of it's neighbours have already put their own armed forces at high alert preventing the Chinese from concentrating bulk of their forces against India. Russia has already condemned Chinese involvement with General Asgar and pit it's forces on high alert. USA too, issued a strong warning and dispatched two of it's CBGs to the area after a Chinese warship shot down a Taiwanese fighter plane over Taiwan Strait. In a strongly worded statement, American president condemned the “irresponsible” attitude shown by Chinese military and warned them against any aggression against US allies and assets anywhere in the world. Japan too, has condemned the incident and put it's own forces on high alert.

As if external pressure was not enough, Chinese authorities are also battling suddenly resurgent separatist movements in Buddhist majority Tibet and muslim Xinjiang. According to news reports, both provinces are in serious turmoil after local rebels in both provinces launched bloody attacks against Chinese military and ethnic Han settlers. Although China has ordered evacuation of all foreigners from the two provinces and cut off all internet services since last night, reports of continuing violence are still pouring in through various sources.